This morning, one month before opening night, I attended the press conference announcing this year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. It will run in seven different venues around the Bay Area from July 19 through August 6. The largest runs will be at the Castro and Berkeley's Roda Theater. A few noteworthy items: A lot … Continue reading San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Blu-ray Review: Love and Anarchy
The political is personal in Lina Wertmüller's moving tragicomedy about a country bumpkin who comes to Rome to assassinate Mussolini, and finds love in an upscale whorehouse. The story starts out funny, becomes surprisingly romantic, but never strays from an intense sadness. If you were too young in the 70s to watch R-rated, subtitled films, … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: Love and Anarchy
Czech & Peck: Czech New Wave and Gregory Peck Films at the Pacific Film Archive
Last night I visited the Pacific Film Archive to see two different movies. The first, Fruit of Paradise, opened the series Three Czech New Wave Classics. The second, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, was for the series Gregory Peck: An Agreeable Gentleman.Fruit of ParadiseThis isn't the real title, or even an accurate translation. Other sources, including … Continue reading Czech & Peck: Czech New Wave and Gregory Peck Films at the Pacific Film Archive
French Cancan
I finished French Cancan last night. I say "finished" because I started it Tuesday night, streaming on Hulu Plus. About 25 minutes before the ending, when the big opening night stage show begins, either Hulu or my Internet connectionI started giving me trouble. It would freeze, start, freeze, start, and so on. Forty minutes later … Continue reading French Cancan
What’s Screening: June 15 – 21
Only one festival this week, but it's a big one. Frameline LGBT continues through this week and beyond. A- Your Sister's Sister,Kabuki, Embarcadero, opens Friday. This romantic sex comedy kept surprising me. I thought it was shallow; then the characters deepened. I figured out whom was going to end up with whom, and what artificial … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 15 – 21
Your Sister’s Sister
A- Romantic comedy Written and directed by Lynn Shelton Let's start with the title. Your Sister's Sister seems like a clumsy way of say your other sister or you. But since two of the three characters that dominate this movie are sisters who have to work out a close but problematic relationship, the title is … Continue reading Your Sister’s Sister
Life 2.0
When I saw this documentary at the 2010 San Francisco Film Festival, I was informed that it would likely receive a theatrical run. It never did--at least in the San Francisco Bay Area (I understand that it had brief runs in LA and NY). Since it's available on DVD and download through various outlets, I … Continue reading Life 2.0
Blu-ray Review: The Gold Rush
In 1925, Charlie Chaplin created what many consider his masterpiece: The Gold Rush. In 1942, he altered it to an extent that would make George Lucas blush. And he insisted to his dying day that the new version was the better one. This Tuesday, Criterion releases a superb Blu-ray of The Gold Rush that includes … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: The Gold Rush
Discount Movies in Newark
Rena Dein of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum just informed me of a real deal. The Cinedome 7 in Newark is now a discount theater. Top ticket price: $2.00. Tickets are only .75 cents on Mondays, if you buy a minimum of three tickets. I've never been to this theater, and have no opinion … Continue reading Discount Movies in Newark
What’s Screening: June 8 – 14
It's a gay time for film festival lovers. The Queer Women of Color opens tonight (Friday) and runs through Sunday. Then Frameline LGBT opens Thursday night. A The Wages of Fear, SF Film Society Cinema, opens Friday for one-week run. You’ll find few other thrillers this painfully suspenseful. Four poverty-stricken Europeans, desperately stranded in South … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 8 – 14
Bayflicks 